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. v... E T Dm. U L W G.

CHALK HOLDER.

No. 463,972. Patented Nov. 24, 1891.

xs News een, muro-u NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

CHARLES L LURTEY, OF LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES IV. CARROLL, OF SAME PLACE.

CHALK-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 463,972, dated November 24, 1891. Applioationiiled April 30, 1891. Serial No. 391,112. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom, t .may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. LUETEY, a .citizen of the United States, residing at Lexington, in the county of Fayette and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Billiard-Chalk Holders; and I do hereby declare the following to be y a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. t

This invention relates to that class of devices by means of which a piece of chalk to be used vfor chalking cues is held in a posisition convenient to be reached by a person playing billiards; and its object is, in general, to provide means whereby the chalk when not in service will be held out of the way of the player and yet within convenient reach, and be so held that it may be drawn forward toward the player to a position convenient for use' in chalking his cue, and so that when set free the device will automatically restore the chalk to its normal position of rest, and more particularly to provide a cord for holding the chalk, a pulley and weight for returning it to its normal position, and guides for the weight and cord which shall prevent the cord from becoming entangled, whether the chalk attached thereto be pulled in one direction or another, and then be suddenly released after use.

To this end my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts forining a billiard-chalk holder, hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure I is a side elevation, partly in vertical section, showing-the preferred form of my invention, and Fig. II is a perspective view 0f the chalk-holder inverted.

5 represents a piece of chalk in the usual cubical form, and 6 holder therefor, consisting of a piece of sheet-brass with downwardprojecting iingers 7, each bent at an angle around one of the four corners of the chalk to engage and hold the same.

8 represents a strong cord attached at one end to the holder 6, and passing thence upward within a guiding-tube 9, to and over a pulley l0, thence downward to a balancingweight 1l, to which the cord is attached.

In the present instance the tube 9 serves as a guideway upon which the weight ll is fitted to slide freely, so that when the 'chalk is drawn outward from the tube the cord 8, running over the pulley l0, will raise the weight ll, and when the cord is released it will be drawn to its normal position'of rest by means of the weight returning or sliding down the way 9 by the action of gravity.

The opening l2 of the tube 9 I callan eye, and it is made smoothly flaring in all directions, so that itwill not Wear the cord whatever way the same may be pulled.

The whole device thus far described is supported at a convenient point over the billiardtable or elsewhere by means of a universal joint consisting of aloop 13, formed in the end of the guideway 9, to be hung in another loop consisting of an eye I4, whichmay be attached to a chandelier or gas-fixture, or it may even be a screw-eye to be screwed into a low ceiling, or into something dependent from the ceiling when it is high.

In its normal position the whole device and the chalk attached thereto will hang vertically downward from the eye 14; but when a person takes hold of the chalk and pulls it toward himself the whole device will be swung upon the universal-joint connection 13 14, so as to point nearly in the line which the cord assumes when pulled upon, thus rendering the delivery of the cord extremely easy, it not being much affected by friction upon the eye l2 nor by the weight 1l, whose gravity will be less in proportion to the angle of elevation. When the operator releases the chalk, the first movement is the swinging of the device into a vertical position, and the next movement is the descent of the weight Il, returning the chalk to rest.

l5 represents a cushion, preferably made of soft rubber and surrounding the guideway 9 at its lower end to receive the weight ll and prevent both noise and jar or shock upon the device.

If the cord were not guided by the eye I2, two disadvantages would result: First, the cord, being free to run directly over the pul- IOO ley lO, would, when flirting in the air, frcquently become wound around the guide and weight and entangle therewith, thus preventing its free use, and, second, the advantage before described of lessening the weight to be lifted by the lower end of the device following the pull of the cord and being swung to one side thereby would be lost. The lin gers of this chalk-holder enable it to be used to rub the chalk between them along the sides of the cue, whereas if the sides of the holder were whole about one-half the chalk would be wasted. They also enable the refuse chalk to be readily pried out and the holder to be cleaned. The elasticity common to all sheet metals causes the back plate of the holder to yield a little at all ofthe corners when a piece ot' chalk being pressed into place between the fingers 7 spreads them a little, and in reacting permanently presses the fingers upon the chalk to hold it.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I believe to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following:

The combination, in chalk-holders, oi' a tubular guideway 9, provided with a shoulder and a Haring mouth at its lower end and a cushion l5 resting thereon, a weight 1l, surrounding and fitted to slide upon the said gnideway, a pulley journaled at one side of the center line of the guideway near its upper end, a chalk-holding device, and acord passing therefrom upward within the said tube and over the said pulley and connected with the said weight, substantially as described.

ln testimony whereof I affix. my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES \V. LUR'FIEY.

bfitnesses:

GEO. S. WEEKS, II. A. ENGAIAN, J1'. 

